Croatia needed one more late push to make its World Cup math clean. Luka Modrić supplied it, and Nikola Vlasic finished it.
Croatia beat Ghana 2-1 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, clinching second place in Group L and a spot in the round of 32. Petar Sučić opened the scoring in the 31st minute, Derrick Luckassen pulled Ghana level in the 73rd after a VAR review, and Vlasic headed in Modrić’s corner in the 83rd to settle the match.
The result put Croatia on six points, one behind group winner England. Ghana finished third on four points, ahead of Panama, and had already done enough to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 2010. The table still changed the tone: Croatia advanced with a win and Ghana moved on with a loss.
Croatia finally turns control into a winner
Croatia had the cleaner early chances before Sučić broke through. Vlasic had already hit the post in the 17th minute, Marin Pongračić headed over from a Modrić delivery in the 21st, and Ivan Perišić forced Benjamin Asare into a save in the 30th. One minute later, Mateo Kovačić found Sučić, who drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom-left corner.
Ghana’s best first-half warning came through Antoine Semenyo, whose 40th-minute shot flashed just wide. The Black Stars changed the game after halftime with Abdul Fatawu and Kojo Peprah Oppong at the break, then Ernest Nuamah and Brandon Thomas-Asante in the 71st. Two minutes later, Nuamah’s cross created the equalizer, with Luckassen finishing from close range after the review confirmed the goal.
That tie only lasted 10 minutes. Asare made another important save on Mario Pašalić in the 82nd, but Croatia won the corner that followed. Modrić’s service found Vlasic in the center of the box, and the header restored Croatia’s lead before Ghana could turn its pressure into a second equalizer.
The numbers matched a narrow Croatia edge
Croatia finished with 53.3 percent possession, eight shots, four on target and three corners. Ghana had six shots, one on target and two corners, which left Luckassen’s finish as its only official shot on frame. Croatia also completed 478 of 523 passes, while Ghana completed 402 of 455.
The margins were small, but Croatia’s late set-piece quality was the difference. That tracks with the wider picture around Luka Modrić’s likely final World Cup: Croatia still needs control, experience and one precise final ball to survive knockout pressure.
Ghana can take the result differently. Its earlier point in Ghana’s draw with England helped make this defeat survivable, and its broader tournament path remains alive after a four-point group stage. For a team Stadio tracked in how to follow Ghana at the 2026 World Cup, the next step is about turning transition moments into more than one shot on target.
For Croatia, the group stage ended with the answer it needed. A loss to England had made the road tighter, a win over Panama reopened it, and this late victory finished the job. The knockout stage will ask for more, but Croatia got there with Modrić creating and Vlasic arriving at exactly the right time.
